I sincerely believe that it is far more beneficial and far less costly to help a child build confidence than it is to fix an adult who has little or none.

If anything can go wrong, it will…..

by imconfident on August 19, 2013

Most of us have heard the phrase, ‘If anything can go wrong, it will.” This statement is commonly referred to as Murphy’s Law which has been around for a long time and also referred to as Sod’s Law. The exact origin of this statement is not certain, however it is often attributed to Edward A. Murphy, who was an engineer working on an Air Force project. One day he discovered a problem with some wiring and being upset with the technician, he said, “If there is any way to do it wrong, he’ll find it.” The project manager kept a list of ‘laws’ and added this new statement which he called Murphy’s Law.

I can certainly coin this phrase when I refer to my recent two-day vacation. Shortly after we left our house on Thursday morning, things started going wrong and continued on for the rest of the day. We had packed up our food, clothing, camping equipment and bikes, loading them all in our truck and small fishing boat. Everything was secured and we drove off with one our dogs (no, we didn’t leave our other dog at home alone, it was staying at our daughter’s house because they don’t always behave when they are together). It was great just listening to the music and anticipating a couple of relaxing days.

About 20 minutes after leaving, my husband said to me, “Did you bring the tent?” I looked at him and replied, “No, I got all the inside stuff ready, I thought you were getting all the outside stuff ready.” I was thinking, “Are you kidding me? I packed all the clothes, the food, the cooler, the bedding, the cooking stuff and you are asking me about the tent? Would that not be in the same location as the camp chairs, the tarps and the boat?” Needless to say, we had to backtrack and pick up the tent. Oh well, at least we weren’t far from home. You have to look at things with a positive perspective and no point blaming anyone. We should have both thought about it.

We got to the campsite with the boat and wouldn’t you know it – there was no boat launch at this campsite. I just assumed it would have one because it was right on Lake Erie. We could have travelled 10 minutes to the next town and launched it from there, but we decided not to bother. We still could ride around on the bikes or walk to the beach.

The campsite was large and had lots of trees. It didn’t take long to set up the tent and get things organized. Then we sat in our comfy camp chairs and relaxed. After reading for a while, it was time to make supper, so we brought out the stove to cook some hamburgers. I’m nervous cooking with gas, so I asked my husband to lit the burner. He asked for the matches and guess what? I forgot to bring any. Good thing there was a camp store.

After eating our yummy hamburgers, we took a walk with our dog. Then it was time for a campfire. The day had been tiring and we soon decided to make it a day and turn in for the night. We got the dog settled in her bed, put on our pajamas and went to bed ourselves. The night had been getting cooler and as I was drifting off to sleep, I didn’t feel very warm. The summer nights had been warm so I only brought a set of sheets and one comforter. Oh well, if I felt cold, I could always put on my sweatshirt.

One problem that I have every night is waking up at least once or twice to use the bathroom and this night was no exception. It was probably about midnight and I felt very uncomfortable. As I turned over, my bottom hit the cold, hard floor. Had I rolled off the air mattress? Quickly I realized that the air had deflated. My husband tried to blow it up, but there was obviously a leak. We tried to go back to sleep, but we were both freezing at that point. No, one comforter was definitely not enough. The temperature had dropped considerably. We both put on sweatshirts and socks. It helped, but it was a very long and uncomfortable night.

The next day we took a drive into the town close by and bought a couple of warm sleeping bags and fixed the leak in the air mattress. Thankfully, the second day went well and we were both warm and comfy at night. As we headed home on Saturday morning, I reflected on the past couple of day and decided that it had been a good vacation after all. Next month we plan on taking another mini-vacation but this time I will be more prepared.